The いんちょうsays REI（れい）
Students bow and say:SENSEI（せんせい）+OHAYOUGOZAIMASU （おはようございます）before recess or
KONNICHIWA （こんにちは）after recess or
ARIGATŌ GOZAIMASHITA （ありがとうございました）at the end of the lessonThe せんせい replies:
MINASAN （みなさん）and same greeting as above

This very large set of characters com from China and are often called Chinese characters. They stand for particular meaning and are often read in a number of different ways depending on their place in a word. The Japanese commonly use almost 2000 of these characters. Although some of these characters are very simple, many of them are impressively complicated.

How well do Japanese people know their kanji? Let’s test them!

So, if Japanese native speakers are struggling, why do we have to learn and use kanji?

When do we use katakana?

Loan (foreign) words except for Chinese origin words, which are written in kanji

Names of countries and people

Company names and their products

Onomatopoeia e.g. ワンワン, ドキドキ

Sounds made by rain, wind, motorbikes and animals

Even imagined sounds – even a death stare (ジー)

Some animal and insect names e.g. ゴキブリ

Emphasis e.g. それはダメです。

Change of tone – Use of katakana suggests more masculine and stronger tone, whereas hiragana suggests a softer and feminine speech.

Use of katakana

Signs in dotonboriManga (Emphasis)Manga (Onomatopoeia)Scientific name of plants (Loan Words)

How do we use katakana?

Essentially, katakana is used and read the same way as hiragana. Refer to the katakana chart below for its pronunciation.

Basic Katakana

Modified Syllables (dakuon)

Consonants Plus “y”

Long Vowels

Long vowels in katakana are indicated by “ー” for horizontal writing and flipped 90 degrees for vertical writing for all rows of katakana table.

Double Consonants

Doubling consonants is indicated by the katakana small tsu, ッ.

Special device

So far, except for the simpler method of lengthening vowels, the use of katakana has been identical to the use of hiragana. We next come to a device that is used in katakana but not in hiragana. Some foreign words use sounds that are not used in Japanese. In order to express these sounds, a small a, i, e, o (ァ,ィ,ェ,ォ) is used. Their methods of use should be clear from examples below.

When compound words or names are written in katakana, sometimes, a dot is placed between the words.

ジョン・スミス (John Smith)

ホーム・ステイ (home-stay)

アウトドア・リビング (outdoor living)

ファッション・ショー (fashion show)

ハーバー・ブリッジ (harbour bridge)

Tools to help you learn

Katakana by Marugoto

Katakana stroke order animations, listen to each katakana, see how the katakana is used in common vocabulary, and take katakana quizzes.
(Click image to play)

Learn katakana in 10 days (Playlist)

Katakana Practice Booklet

(Click image to download)

Katakana Reading Exercises

Organised in levels of difficulty (Lv. 1 to 9)
(Click image to download)

Katakana Mnemonics

(Click image for access)

Katakana Memory Hint App by Japan Foundation

(Click image to download)

Katakana Quiz

Basic Hiragana

The Japanese writing system is made up from 46 basic syllabic letters. The basic hiragana are shown in the chart below. The method of writing them is shown in the Stroke Order Videos further down the page.

Basically, in Japanese script, all letters are pronounced individually (exceptions to this will be mentioned later). For instance, look at the first column.

あ い う え お

あおい, blue, is pronounced, a, o, i, as three separate vowels. There is no blurring of vowels as in the English word peal. An exception to this is when one vowel is repeated. It is then read as one long sound (i.e. the sound is held for two syllables), rather than being voiced twice. For instance:

いい good

ええ yes

ああ oh!

Reading practice

Advanced Hiragana

Modified Syllables (dakuon)

Some basic syllables can be modified by adding two dots (e.g. が) or a circle (e.g. ぺ). The pronunciation of these syllables is shown below.

When ga, gi, gu, ge or go is in the middle of the word, it may also be pronounced with a nasal ng or with the English pronunciation g sound.

おりがみ paper folding

でんわ telephone

かぞく family

ともだち friend

さんぽ walk/stroll

えんぴつ pencil

Consonants plus “y”

If a small ゃ is added after the syllable き, it is then pronounced kya and written as きゃ. The small ゃ,ゅor ょ can be added any い sounds.

See Combo Hiragana below.

Examples:

ちゃいろ brown

かいしゃ company

しゅみ hobby

うんてんしゅ driver

Long vowels

It has been previously mentioned that いい, ええ and ああ are each pronounced as one long vowel. The vowels that are sounded in combination with consonants may also be lengthened by adding a vowel. For example, かあ is pronounced kaa (long a), not ka, a (two distinct vowel sounds).

RULES:

あ sound + あ = long a sound

おかあさん mother

おばあさん grandmother

い sound + い = long i sound

いいえ no

いい good

ちいさい small

おにいさん older brother

う sound + う = long u sound

すうがく mathematics

じゅう ten

せんしゅう last week

え sound + い = long e sound

せんせい teacher

せいふく uniform

ていしょく set menu/meal

お sound + う = long o sound

こうこう high school

こうえん park

どうぞ please

However, the following common words are exceptions, since they are lengthed by adding お instead:

おおきい big

おおさか Osaka

とおい far

Double Consonants

There are no syllables for individual consonants in Japanese. Hence, a special device is needed to indicate a double consonant. This device is called small tsu, っ. Notice the difference in the size between つ and っ. The small っ is not pronounced. Instead, it indicates a pause before the next letter.

いた vs いった

きて vs きって

ちょっと a little

もっと more

ざっし magazine

かっこいい trendy/cool

きっさてん coffee shop

しゅっぱつ departure

Practice booklets

Practise writing hiragana including those with ten ten and maru.
(Click to download)

Tools to help you learn

Hiragana by Marugoto

Hiragana stroke order animations, listen to each hiragana, see how the hiragana is used in common vocabulary, and take hiragana quizzes.
(Click image to play)